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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

You know I live in the boonies and I love the simple life of raising our chickens, tending to and mucking out the layers three times a year, its about being close to my food!

I'm a modern quilter and really excited about our upcoming September start back at quilting with other members of the BV Modern Quilt Guild in Smithers/Telkwa and my friend and one of our members is Kirsten, who's fish biologist by day and damn great cook by night!

This is her second quilt and one of her modern ideas, can hardly wait to see how this turns out.

I like basic food, without preservatives, raw is preferred except meat and potatoes.

A view of our garden.

My hubby Rick, with a 27 lb spring salmon, caught moments before this photo in the Skeena River.

But what about cooking in the boonies. Which when you live northern life, often the boonies where you live and cooking has to be superb and gourmet, even in the boonies.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Our local community of Smithers, B.C. is a busy, energetic place in the summer. Our local BV Farmer's Market opens on the Saturday before Mother's Day each year. Families, locals and tourists enjoy the Highway 16 location rain or shine!

Once every two years, our local Smithers Art Gallery hosts a local quilt show. Locals this year will gather to drop off, help out and celebrate in the wonder of local talented quilters on June 30th with meeting and handing over families heirlooms and recent completes.

No one really cares what your level of quilting competency, just so long as you've made a quilt, we're good. We're a lively and laid back group of people who inhabit this region. Multicultural and first nations live side by side. We're miners, loggers, business people, artists and sport enthusiast alike.

We don't hold too many airs of our thriving community in the midst of changing environments, threats to habitat, sluggish economy or global warming. We are aware, active and focused, alive comes to mind. This view below is from atop one of the mountains off Lawson Rd, its cloudy on this day and mysteriously wild.

I'm taking part in this years quilting celebration with two quilts close to my heart. One is my recent complete quilts entitled "Gramma's Stitchn'" and its my personal quilt. I imagine this wrapped around when I'm too old to care and too far gone to do anymore stitching. Hopefully, that is still a long way down the road.

What have you done for your later years, when you are not able to be as active as you are today?

I love making one of a kind quilts!!

Yes, I admit it, I'm a hopeless original thinker! I always start out making a quilt with some sort of potential new pattern in mind. But then life gets in the way as with this one. I've had some interest in people wanting a pattern for both these quilts.

Is this a quilt that you'd make for yourself? If so please comment and let me know?

Above is my complete king size quilt. I did get it done for hand quilting by the deadline of June 30th, more on this paticular quilt in the "Canadian Birds Quilt"

Our quilt show needs help and its more than likely that the newly formed BV Modern Quilt Guild will provide support for this event providing a great opportunity for new collaboration.

What do you think? Is it a collaboration you participate in for your community? What kinds of volunteering do you do for a quilt show?

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Hello everyone, so glad you dropped by to see what's happening in my studio!

Just a few little things are on the go and some really big things too!

I've called this new pattern "Wood Walk" and its the quilt that it will be the 2nd installment of online workshops starting in September. This is just the starting photo and this new design that reminds me of the woodsey feel I get when I walk along our very rural road. You can hear the birds just singing away, the green lush leaves on the poplar, willow trees. The saskatoon shrubs are in full bloom, my freezer is waiting for their lovely berries for winter goodness.

Of course, I should have known that I had not recently cleaned my sewing machine and yes, it really messed up the tension and I had to some cleaning before going anywhere else. I found an awesome tutorial on cleaning your sewing machine over at Craft Nectar blog.

Then last, but not least, I've started onto my Protest Skirt and you'll see a tutorial for making your very own protest skirt here very soon.This is very easy, a great for beginners who are keen to have a new skirt with attitude for the summer!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

I stand with my hands on my hips, the garden is in and organized, the sun shone all around me, as I listened to the sweet sound of songbirds.

1. I'm hand quilting a king size quilt, with a deadline of June 30 to add it into the local quilt show! As of today, I've still got three borders and two corners to go. I started in late December 2011.

2. As the leader of the pack of artists who have rallied around making a once in a lifetime quilt, the deadline for all the artists to have their block handed in to me is June 30th also!

I'm not showing the blocks yet, just the one I'm making and this is it. Its a bust of Sir Alfred Smithers who our main town of Smithers is named after. He was in the employ of Grand Trunk Railway and assisted in the completion of the railroad which helped promote the growth and development of Smithers in the Northwest BC region. For more information, you can visit our local http://bvmuseum.com/

I'm not a 100% happy with this yet, but what do you think? Please give me some feedback here?

It started out with transferring the actual photocopy of the ONLY photo I could find of our illustrious namesake and so.....

I had this really lovely and very exciting book arrive at Christmas time. Serendipity Quilts by Susan Carlson. Its definitely one book, I'd recommend if you are looking for a new adventure in quilting and so I leafed through it, read it from cover to cover and thought maybe....Oh maybe, I can do this!

So being a good student, I made a swirling pattern as per her first exercise. I like this technique!

3. Myself and two other really good friends decided to get the first non-profit guild going in Smithers/Telkwa area and so this organization, programming etc and our big event of an Earth Day event to be held in October of this year, is in the works!

The Bulkley Valley Modern Quilt Guild is happening and we're taking a wee bit of an hiatus until September, so we can all find ourselves and move through summer with a smile on our face! If you live local to me, then please contact me for more information about our new guild here.

4. Since I'm a addict of textiles, I am seeking a job to help pay for my habit.

5. I have at least 3 new patterns almost ready to share and these are being worked on as my life goes on. One of my new patterns was the cover of the Winter issue of Quilters Connection.

I decided to answer the questions for participating in the Blog Hop linking party with a little poem.

Join others to link up and read up, meet old friends and follow some new one ones!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

I made a comment recently on Debra's blog. I highly recommend it, she is "most def" an addict to crazy quilting. Talent beyond the door for sure and a pleasure to read her posts on my favorite theme. I made a comment about how much I love to use black and very bold colors.

Most of my work in crazy quilting has been reaching back in time and finding those colors that make a quilt pop and I think black is one those colors that makes a quilt pop.

Its like this crazy quilt below, its yet unnamed ? As of earlier in 2012, I didn't have a name, but its now its called "Tropical Sunset"

Working on this crazy quilt blocks keeps my fingers well used for the hand embroidery involved with the Smithers 2013 Centennial Quilt.

I don't like boredom in any way, shape or form. I like to have changing colors, textures and highlights that make my mind reel with more ideas! In fact, upon reflection of my photo collection, I can see my Mexacali quilt and these 'Tropical Sunset crazy Blocks going together, can't you!

It could be radical and even more crazier than some of my quilts, I just don't limit myself to the confines of what everyone else is doing in textiles. My textile creations are so versatile I think its like having a candy store with lots of variety.
I was lucky enough to have started with black floral print with hot pepper colors on top of the black background. These blocks were a round robin affair with many of my quilter friends. Black and tropical colors can most certainly work well in this quilt as a border, it could make this quilt pop.

In the photo above, you can see how I used an autumn set of colors. So I did choose them. Many times at classes I teach, students have suggested that the 'crazy quilter' didn't choose her colors, she just went at it.
I don't believe this. The most precious, antique crazy quilts, one of which I have in my collection, is all hand embroidered onto recycled fortrel pant fabric. Made of pale, lemon and pale green colors, that hand embroidery pops. Its the setting or background that makes a quilt pop.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The "girls" don't seem have a problem with this. They are just as happy to dust in organic soil and carry on with their life! I'm thinking they are right!

About 2 months ago, our neighbors took a 4 week vacation to Australia. I was asked if I could watch over their house and take care of their two cats, Hecate and Seven. I'm sorry I don't have a photo of these two cats because they are slightly photo shy and run everywhere.

But I can share with you, my lovely Cloe, who was a stray and now resides with us!

I have a special interest in Australia! I've always wanted to travel there, maybe even live there for a while, but alas, Australia has escaped me. I read several blogs that originate from the sandy shores or hot baked dry parts of Australia and thought this was perhaps the best time to say 'Hello from Canada"

The first one is www.littleecofootprints.com where most recently she had an excellent post on herbs you can grow at home for tea! Do go and follow her, she has such great information regarding living a natural life with the minimum impact.

The second one is a fabulous knitter who has her finger on the pulse of knitting. I love her inventive ways that she uses yarn and her designs are exceptional!

But when it comes to distractions lately, the garden preparation has taken the entire distraction to the limit. We have a small window of a growing season here in Northern Canada to say the least, that's why when you live here, its run like heck and get it in, harvested and preserved before the snow flies again. Of course, we have a lovely summer, but its short!

Last night our neighbors brought by a lovely gift for me, the "Cat Keeper" to say 'thank you' and look at this distraction!

I've always wanted a tea towel of Australia, I love the movie "Australia" and as I mentioned before, that I'd love to visit sometime. But then also a lovely hand potted sugar dish with a cute little lid. And a ecosystem calendar from Australia.

What a lovely gift! Now, my mind is working up a new quilt with tea towel in it. More on that later.

What would you do with a brand new tea towel for a quilt? Perhaps my gal pal would tear it up and knit a rug!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

My quilt is done for the Pipeline Art Exhibit around the protest of Enbridge's Proposed Pipeline through pristine wilderness, farms and communities, rivers are our life blood!

My home is located on the beautiful Bulkley Valley. The rich, alive and responsive Bulkley River runs alongside our river campsite, at our home. I'm so lucky to have such a peaceful, tranquil place to live. We are surrounded by wilderness, ranchers, miners and families. We have plenty of open space, wild areas minutes from downtown Smithers, BC. We have lots of industry, mining and forestry and tourism. We have a few unemployed folks, but most are employed and moving ahead with their lives in the beautiful Bulkley Valley.

Unfortunately, The Bulkley River is one of those rivers that you might have heard about that is threatened by potential spills from crude oil being transported from Alberta tar sands to the BC coastline by Enbridge for freighter trips across the Pacific Ocean.

What's wrong with that? What's at risk that those involved with Enbridge don't seem to know about or maybe the shareholders don't know or maybe they don't care? I live on one of those rivers that will be affected if a spill occurs. Many say that its not a question of 'if' but rather 'when' a spill will occur.

This quilt began as a way for me to say my piece in textiles.

I tried to interpret the various ways that we use the land and the colors picked are organic cotton solids from my studio. I wanted to remind the viewer that the countryside is colorful, vibrant and full of life. The blue water and blood red implies that this area was raised from the ground with blood, sweat and tears.

When you actually live in a place is threatened. Its like suddenly an oncoming train, complete with all the dangers involved are coming too!

I don't hear anything from Enbridge, except what is reported on the CBC Radio. Lately, CBC reported that 60% of the First Nations communities along the 1200 kms route, have signed on to enjoy the profits and from the way I see things, that can't be true!

According to local First Nations leaders, this is not the case, most appose this pipeline.

I continue to reflect on my own future. Our property is a jewel on the Bulkley River, any fly fisher traveling for thousands of miles to get here each year would love to live where we live. Our soil, harvest and hand raised meat chickens are perfecting safe from pollutants because of where we live. We don't use chemicals on our property. Our laundry detergent is Biovert, the best chemical free, natural and Canadian made detergent from Quebec. I use their hand dish washing detergent, general cleaning and laundry. I've been a long time user since 1994 when I first found it at a little shop in Oosoyoos, BC. I totally recommend it. When I moved to Telkwa, I went to the health food store and asked them to get it in for me, now they sell all the fine list of products from Biovert.

I juggled and moved things around on my design wall. I read more on what the whole pipeline will look like and how close my home this will come. If you go to this map, I see my google location as right on the red line. That's how close my home is to the pipeline.

Houses became important to signify the families and communities that are here. I felt this was important because I've heard it reported that the proposed pipeline is taking a route far away from towns. What rubbish!

This layout is starting to feel like its saying the things I want said!

Its a scary thing to live so close to such a danger. Who would have thought that so far from anything, that my home territory would become at risk.

I'm so glad to have found a perfect home for Sonja Callaghan's paper piecing "Little Fox" from her paper piecing Artisania's online blog. Links to her shop is listed on this blog.

The Bulkley River is steps away behind this quilt. My world would be changed forever if a spill hit the Morice River which feeds Bulkley River just a few kms up river.

The black face silhouette and black sashing represent the black crude oil that will spill into the wild areas, salmon spawning rivers and the lively-hood of thousands of people that guide, take tours, recreate in this area.